Beekeeping: why we love keeping bees - video

Bees are essential for humankind's survival, as our food depends on pollination. Yet the world's bees are under threat from pesticides and urbanisation. Here, beekeepers Carole Brown and Ken Bishop of
West Dorset Beekeepers' Association open their hives for the first time in the season and check the queen bee is laying properly

Damian Carrington: Replacing the pollination of food crops that the UK's bees perform for free would cost £1.8bn. With hard data now linking pesticides to bees' rapid decline, there is no excuse for inaction